The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for providing a passageway between at least two receiving chambers located within a common container and separated by a partition wall wherein separate materials are initially located in the respective chambers and are combined in one of the chambers via a passageway formed between the two chambers in response to a predetermined manipulation of the container.
Known containers for packing materials, such as yogurt and cereal flakes, which are to be combined upon use include container arrangements in which flakes are located in an outer container into which there has been inserted an inner container containing yogurt, the inner container having a lid part which customarily consists of aluminum foil sealed to the container. Ordinarily, the inner container is merely inserted into the outer container. In order to mix the food, the consumer must remove the inner container from the outer container open the inner container by tearing open its lid part, and then empty the contents of the inner container into the outside container. This is a cumbersome procedure and is disadvantageous since it is not possible to avoid unconsumed food being left in the inner container, depending on the care and patience of the consumer. Furthermore, this container arrangement is difficult to handle.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,696,919 discloses a container arrangement having an outer container, the inside of which is divided by a cup-shaped structure arranged coaxial to the outer container to provide two receiving chambers. The cup-shaped structure which is open on top has its opening coupled to a sealing seat formed on a lid part. Its axial length is less than that of the outer container. In order to establish a passageway between the two receiving chambers, an axial crumple zone formed in the outer container is manually compressed (the outer wall of the container is highly elastic) until the lower end of the cup can be gripped with one's fingers and the cup can be withdrawn from its seat on the lid part by releasing the compressing force which had been applied to the crumple zone. This container arrangement and the method used to mix the materials contained in the two chambers is disadvantageous for various reasons.
The lid part and outer wall are expensive to manufacture, particularly if one takes into consideration the requirements of the crumple zone, resilience of the material of the wall, the outer container and the cover part. Additionally, the manipulations required to establish a passageway between the two chambers are not consumer-friendly since they can be carried out properly only with directions for use (the opening is established by manual separation of the cup from the seat on the lid part by gripping the cup through the outer wall of the container).
U.S. Pat. No. 3,856,138 discloses a dual chamber container in which an outer container, closed by a screw lid, is divided into two receiving chambers by a coaxial cylindrical partition wall. The cylindrical partition wall is open at its bottom and, in the closed condition of the container, is seated with its opening against a sealing seat on the bottom part of the outer container. When the lid is unscrewed and removed from the outer container, the opening at the bottom of the cylindrical partition wall is lifted off from the sealing lips and the materials in the two receiving chambers are combined. This structure is also costly to manufacture and requires a relatively rigid structural material be used for all of the container parts.